Goodbye Charles, I Am Me. Poem by RIC BASTASA

i can never be you charles
i tried too
got drunk too and had some
what you think i deserve
i got lost too
and collapsed but just the same
i am still in this
smooth flow of words less the imagery
that you have mastered so well but
no regrets
i will never be like you
as there is only one you as, and this
i realize, there is only one me too,
and i am at most, at most, at home with it.

i like it here, and so be it.
goodbye charles, i am me.